Soyuz rocket blasts off for International Space Station

A Soyuz rocket carrying two Russians and an American has blasted off for the International Space Station.

The crew of cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko and Nasa astronaut Shane Kimbrough lifted off as scheduled from the Russian-operated Baikonur launch facility on the steppes of Kazakhstan at 2.05pm local time.

Their Soyuz MS-02 capsule is set to dock at the space outpost two days later.

The launch was originally set for September 23, but it was postponed because of a technical issue with the Soyuz spacecraft that was eventually fixed.

The three crew are to spend just over four months at the station before coming back to Earth in late February.